The Island is a sea of islands ...

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2005)

Is this the last inhabitable island? A paradise for the lucky few lottery winners?
While one may think this is a rip off on some sub part 70's B flick, I get the feeling this is a segway from Logan's Run, THX 1138 and others. The cast is good, the script is good ... along with the story (important) though some action scenes will stretch (and maybe break?) your belief, these transgressions are minor. All action movies have 'reality' issues.
I suppose it is fashionable to bash Micheal Bay. I never really paid attention - but I guess, because of the Pearl Harbor disaster (the film with Ben Afleck, not the actual events from December 7th), people have a deep seated hatred for the director. This hatred is seemingly enhanced by the number of explosions that Bay uses in some of his movies.
I think The Island (TI) got a bad rap for product placement. I think this is mostly undeserved. I did think the XBox (live people fighting) was badly placed... it just seemed silly, but other 'placements' seemed very natural - or even funny in a good way. And this leads to the car chase (or one of them). It was much better than the Matrix 2 car chase where all cars seemed to be of a new GM origin and the only cool car was the Camaro (also of GM origin, but at least it had SOME originality). Of course the ads in the movie theater can get annoying ... but that's nothing to do with the movie.
I think Bay & Co did a very good job of setting the scene and showing us the human qualities of Jordan and Lincoln. In many ways they seemed more human than the others. Many big questions are raised by this movie and I think many statements are made about the human condition and what people will do to stay alive. How did Lincoln Six Echo develop memories from another person? What kind of influence did the tech/ McCord (played by Steve Buscemi) have on Lincoln. Merrick (Sean Bean) brings up this point, but I think his lack of a real answer makes a bigger statement than anything else.
What is real and what is human? What is the nobility of the human spirit ... While these questions are different for everyone I think they are important and should have answers. This movie gives many answers and leaves the right questions.
The dialog in TI is good, the actors are good, Scarlet is hot and did well with her role ... I've seen this once and I give it a 9 out of 10.
I would go into this movie with as little knowledge about TI, as possible. I would ignore jaded reviewers (professionals who get PAID to review!) who get fussy at the oddest things. I would also ignore the 15 year old retards (is that redundant?) who fail understand that all these ideas are in the public domain and DIRECTORS do not plagiarize (unless they are writers!). I doubt any real 15 year old would get off the Island alive! Maybe the only smart ones are Lincoln & Jordan...
MB did a good job. It has a nice build up and then the action is well paced with enough of the old to make the differences stand on their own.